Foreword: While this history is something learned by rote by any member of the Aeternus Continuum worth their salt I have been asked by a member of the Advocatii to provide a shortened history for those Vassals aspiring to higher things. I will attempt to only interject where I believe additional context is needed as while we are a ‘cult’ according to our many opponents that does not provide an excuse for a lack of academic rigour.
In fact, as what we seek is based in truth, we should have no compunction in seeking to alter it. The facts will bear out our message.
Humbly yours,
The Editor.
In the beginning the Empyrean were but a single people of many. The Empyreans are eternal and ageless and eons ago fought a war of unification across the galaxy compelling many other races to join or be cleansed from memory. The Architects of the Empyrean then created The Great Constellation as well as the void gate network (now known as the Hyperuranion) roughly 2 million years ago. The Great Constellation is part place, part technology. It is a place as it apparently orbits the centre of the Cyrissian galaxy (Editors note: So does everything else, so perhaps this relationship is a little more close and intimate than those on the periphery). It is part technology since beyond the physical place The Great Constellation also houses the souls of the Empyrean who have shucked off their material forms to live an immaterial existence. It is implied that the inhabitants of this are experiencing a sort of heaven (Editors note: The nature of this heaven is largely unknown). Beyond the central hub of the Empyrean race (both corporeal and ephemeral) is the Void Gate network allowing for travel from planet to planet without the lengthy interplanetary and interstellar trips.
This galaxy-spanning war (Editor’s note: And genocides?) culminated in an Empyrean who had effectively completed their project. Those who joined the Empyreans left their bodies and joined the chorus of The Great Constellation functionally forever. Those who maintained a metallic, robotic, material existence known as Aeons had no real purpose and lay dormant and the galaxy grew silent, with only sleeping Empyreans and the ruins of those they destroyed or claimed remaining.
Until recently.
In the beginning all of humanity (and some have theorised many more besides) lived on a single planet. A planet with its own stories, conflicts, heroes, civilisations, and legends all lost to history and probably forgotten by even those keepers who experienced them first-hand. This planet was dying. Under threat by some force so traumatizing we do not know of it by name. But all hope was not lost because an organisation upon this world was in communion with Cyriss.
(Editors note: this seems to be the way that the Empyrean Architects contacted all that they sought to add to the Great Constellation. More on that later.)
During the great calamity 5000 individuals or so managed to pass through a primitive void gate and burst onto another planet and into the galaxy of Cyriss and thus humanity made its first indelible mark upon our newest home. This is the first great epoch of humanity known as The Foundation (Fnd). Humanity arrived on a planet the dubbed “Deacaene” or “New Caen” (Editors note: We can speculate the planet humanity escaped may have been known as “Caen”) which was abundant in natural resources and gardens. Soon after, representatives of the Empyrean awoke and came to greet humanity. The Empyreans spoke with humanity and taught them about their new home, primarily about Arcanessence.
Arcanessence (or Arc) is a naturally occurring magical resource within the galaxy of Cyriss. It is a universal power source for items who, using other technologies, breach the laws of physics known as mechanika. Apparently, humans already had the capacity to use these technologies, but the method for using them was lost since escaping their homeworld. Arc allowed them to begin again, especially those who were born with the gift of being a Warcaster (Editors Note: We will cover Warcasters later).
The Empyreans took some of humanity (the magically capable Warcasters) through the Void Gates to show humanity their accomplishments and the benefits of joining the Empyrean. They also allowed humanity the option to transcend their flesh and join The Great Constellation. Some few of humanity took this opportunity, but we know not how many.
Humanity began to eagerly study the Void Gates and unravel the mystery of Void Gate travel, some gates opened on apparently random periods and for random periods. A day, a month, a year, years may go by until the void gate closes. The Empyreans were shocked by the speed of our study and sent humanity a message.
“This world is our gift to you. Let it be your safety and your shelter, but here you shall remain. The order of the universe is not to be trifled with by those unaccustomed to its laws. Go no farther.”
Their dormancy and immortality left them unable to comprehend what happened next.
A member of humanity attempted to force a gate open using magic and, in the process of it, tore it to pieces. Fire rained down on Deacaene and the Empyreans noticed. They sealed the gates around the world and left behind a cohort of Aeons to monitor humanity. The Empyreans occupied humanity like a colonising power but were unaware that such things only invigorated the human spirit to escape its captivity.
Humanity worked in secret until they were able to break open their bonds and destroy the Aeons that held them captive led by the first Keeper through the gates only known as The Prime. The humans fought their way through the shut off gates and purged the planets of the small Empyrean forces that were watching them. The Empyreans, taken completely by surprise, retreated to the Great Constellation. The galaxy was, in a way, ceded to humanity.
For now.
Humans were terrified of the counterattack that was sure to follow, but hours turned to days, to months, to years. Nothing came through those gates in force. The Empyrean had experienced so many millennia of peace they were unprepared for war. But humanity had experienced so much war it was nearly impossible for them to see things in any other frame. Humanity exploded into the galaxy, humans learned about the gates, and they spread through the stars. They built new Sky-ships to traverse the void and begun to explore the Hyperuranion. The leaders and explorers were the Warcasters, those who had the capacity to control robotic forms known as Warjacks and manipulate Arc in a way most could only dream of. The end of the The Founding had humanity spread across the galaxy and share information in ways that increased our understanding exponentially.
This, though, eventually led to the Second Great Epoch. The Sorrows.
That will end part 1 for now as the attention span of a vassal is finite and I have many other things to attend to. Keep to your duties and I will recite the next era of history. Truth will bear us out.
With many regards,
The Editor.